Well, a big F*CK YOU to you too, buddy!
...is all I can think that Lenny would have to say...
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/12/2...don/index.html
Nice gesture.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/12/2...don/index.html
Nice gesture.
Comments
Originally posted by shetline
One tiny step forward, just in time for a few giant steps backwards, like constitutional amendments against flag burning and gay marriage.
it was a huge step forward and he had plenty of advocates at the time. if you ever heard the stuff he was arrested for it would really kill you, it's not like he was dropping f-bombs all over the place.
the problem with all his arrests was that it consumed him it became all he was about. a shame.
oh i wasn't aware of these amendments about flag burning or gay marriage.
do you even know what it takes to amend the constitution?
Originally posted by JimDreamworx
When did this thread get hijacked for constitutional amendments for gay marriage and flag burning? I didn't even know those amendments were on the table...
They're not. Shetline is pretending to care about the Constitution. Good for Lenny but the First Amendment is still very much under assault. The latest blow came from the Supreme Court with that BCRA ruling.
Originally posted by JimDreamworx
When did this thread get hijacked for constitutional amendments for gay marriage and flag burning? I didn't even know those amendments were on the table. Link?
Mr. Bush and the Flag
White House considers constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage
Mind you, I'm not saying anything about the likelyhood of any of this stuff passing (the elder Bush tried getting a flag amendment, and it got shot down, but that was before 9/11).
My point is that the positives like this gesture toward Lenny Bruce are too few and far between vs. mounting pressures from so-called conservatives against freedom. I doubt most Americans, if asked to describe the difference between liberty and democracy, could do anything but stammer.
Originally posted by zaphod_beeblebrox
They're not. Shetline is pretending to care about the Constitution.
I think you're pretending to be an as*hole, and doing a damn good job of it. Care to stick to the issues at hand rather than posing as almighty judge of what I care and do not care about?
I care a great deal about the Constition, and have done quite a bit of thinking about what I'd like to see in the Constitution, including a clearer and broader definition of freedom of expression, better defined separation of church and state (especially dealing with permitting freedom of religious practice vs. accomodating it), and more detail on where individual liberty trumps majoritarian will (which I believe is should most of the time, except in the face of overwhelming, clear, and directly affected public good).
Originally posted by shetline
I think you're pretending to be an as*hole, and doing a damn good job of it...
Not pretending. I AM BEING an as*hole towards you. As for sticking to the issues at hand, you're the one who started talking about phantom constitutional amendments.
Originally posted by shetline
Mind you, I'm not saying anything about the likelyhood of any of this stuff passing...
Of course you're not because that would reveal how little substance there is to your claims. It's not like amending the constitution is an easy thing to accomplish. There's a reason there have been so few amendments. These proposals are nowhere near even passing Congress much less actually being ratified.
just someone floating an idea does not an amendment make.
the allusion he makes in his first post is that things are worse now then when lenny bruce was being persecuted, and that is absolute rubbish.
Originally posted by superkarate monkeydeathcar
well count me in on being stupid, because i can't recall a valid threat of a constitutional amendment regarding flag burning or gay marriage.
just someone floating an idea does not an amendment make.
the allusion he makes in his first post is that things are worse now then when lenny bruce was being persecuted, and that is absolute rubbish.
You big stoopid!
You're right that things aren't worse now, but I don't think he implies anything about such a relatively distant past. The only timeframe I see would be a relatively short one, during the timeframe that the proposed amendments to the constitution were made. I certainly don't see him comparing our times to Lenny's.
I'm glad for Lenny and his family. I hope he can now be immortalized for the positive things he's done. I hope he's added to the [blank] hall of fame and regared and promoted as a pioneer. The world needs another good kick in the ass from a Lenny Bruce.
Originally posted by bunge
You big stoopid!
You're right that things aren't worse now, but I don't think he implies anything about such a relatively distant past. The only timeframe I see would be a relatively short one, during the timeframe that the proposed amendments to the constitution were made. I certainly don't see him comparing our times to Lenny's.
I'm glad for Lenny and his family. I hope he can now be immortalized for the positive things he's done. I hope he's added to the [blank] hall of fame and regared and promoted as a pioneer. The world needs another good kick in the ass from a Lenny Bruce.
i took the implication to mean that we were on the verge of having a flag burning amendment or a gay marriage (ban?) amendment, when we were, or are no where near having either.
it's damned hard to amend the constitution. as it should be.
i mean people propose to amend the constitution all the time, but the last serious one was the equal rights amendment, what 20 years ago?
Originally posted by superkarate monkeydeathcar
it's damned hard to amend the constitution. as it should be.
I agree.
I had just taken shetline's statement as a generalization about the current state of affairs, how our rights are slipping back even if there's a bright spot (Lenny's pardon) every once and awhile. We're currently moving backwards, not forward.
And a big happy Christmas to everyone.
Originally posted by bunge
I had just taken shetline's statement as a generalization about the current state of affairs, how our rights are slipping back even if there's a bright spot (Lenny's pardon) every once and awhile. We're currently moving backwards, not forward.
Thank you. Exactly my point. Even if actually amending the Constitution is a fortunately difficult thing, it's a bad sign when spouting a desire to amend the Constitution for things like a flag amendment is a good way to curry favor with voters.
In a time when many Americans are waving flags and paying lip service to "freedom", too many show a lack of understanding what freedom means. For many, "freedom" only means "Go USA! Let's beat them before they beat us!", not realizing that often the greatest threats to freedom come from among our own people, not from abroad.